French climber dies in Nepal's Himalayas: police

A 30-year-old French climber has fallen to his death on a mountaineering trip in Nepal's Everest region, police said Sunday.

The climber and a friend were returning from an unsuccessful attempt to scale the 6,476-metre (21,247-foot) high Mera peak on Friday evening when he lost his footing and fell about 50 metres, an officer said.

"His friend called on locals for help but when they reached him he was already dead," Chandra Dev Rai, police chief of Solukhumbu district, told AFP.

A runner participates in a marathon at Gorakshep in Nepal's Solukhumbu district on May 29, 2012

"A team of local police carried his body down to Lukla (town) yesterday."

The French Embassy in Kathmandu has been informed and arrangements have been made to airlift the body to Nepal's capital, he said.

December closes the peak climbing and trekking season in the Himalayan nation, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains.

The region was hit by tragedy this year, with more than 40 hikers killed in a massive snowstorm in the popular Annapurna circuit in October.

Hundreds of climbers also abandoned plans to ascend Everest in April after an avalanche struck the world's highest mountain, claiming the lives of 16 Nepalese guides, making the accident the deadliest day on the 8,848-metre-high peak.